


Whisper on the Wind

by dreamcp



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, M/M, Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamcp/pseuds/dreamcp
Summary: After the Game is over, Neku tries to enjoy life as best as he can. But no matter what he tries, it always feels like there's something missing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's been nearly a year since my first work on ao3? Wow. Thanks to everyone who's read, left kudos, bookmarked, commented, and all that. It really means a lot! So please, enjoy!

Neku tries to put it all behind him, to move on. He meets his friends at Hachiko, he smiles, he laughs, he feels happy. For the first time in so long, he wants to open up to people.

On a whim he tosses his headphones, gently worn and lovingly cared for, to the ground. They had been his wall, his haven, his escape from the world. Neku was grateful for them. But he doesn't need to hide away anymore.

They're planning to go to lunch when Neku thinks that maybe it'd be a better idea to donate the headphones, or at least pick them up off the street. He walks back to where he left them and looks around. 

The headphones are nowhere to be seen. In the spot where he thinks he left them, however, is a single white feather.

Time passes. No one seems to remember him being dead; It's like nothing's changed. Except Neku has changed, and his parents take notice. He knows they're wondering what happened, why he's suddenly eager to meet up with people and where all of these new, unique friends came from. He wishes he could tell them. But he doesn't, and they don't ask, and Neku's friends quietly become common guests in the household.

Although, there's one person Neku still wishes he could introduce to his parents. If only the bastard would show himself.

Neku throws himself into life with renewed passion. Being dead apparently provides a totally different view on living, and Neku decides it'd be a horrible waste to ignore it. He smiles at little kids, he gives directions to lost tourists, he gives a few yen whenever he passes beggars. 

Sometimes when walking through Shibuya, he'll find more feathers.

He's inspired to create art, so he does it. There's no point in worrying whether it's any good or not, when life is so short. His pieces are representative of him. If people find them imperfect, then fine. Neku knows he's not perfect. That just means he's doing it right. Sometimes he'll come straight from painting to meet his friends, flecks of color on his face and hands. Shiki laughs and comments on the state of his clothes. Rhyme comments on the bright look in his eyes.

He doesn't tell them where his inspiration comes from. A shocking number are inspired by that kid who tried to kill them all, and he doesn't really want to have that conversation.

Neku thinks about Joshua. A lot. More than is probably normal, considering Josh nearly ended all of their lives. He gets nightmares about the Reaper's Game sometimes. About dying. About pulling the trigger. He wakes up in the middle of the night, panting heavily, terrified that he's killed a god.

It's not all bad, despite that. Neku thinks that if they met now, they could reach an understanding. He stands by what he told Josh when he first met the others outside the UG; he can't forgive Joshua. But he's willing to try again, if only the boy would show himself. Neku is far from stupid, and he knows Joshua is the one leaving feathers around. He's got a feeling Joshua is also the one waking him from his nightmares before he cries out and alerts his parents. But why Josh refuses to face him is beyond Neku.

Or maybe he's overthinking it and Joshua has no interest in him anymore. Fine. Neku goes about his life and ignores the sting from that thought. He can put Josh behind him like he's already trying to put the Game behind him.

Joshua, however, apparently has other plans.

It's a day much like the one when he first met his friends in the RG, like the one when he told Joshua he trusted him. He's the last one to Hachiko, and the others are smiling as he walks up. Shiki pats his arm, and Rhyme gives him a hug, and Beat rubs his head. A normal day.

Except Rhyme glances behind him, and suddenly her eyes widen. She tugs on Beat's shirt. Shiki follows her gaze and gasps. Beat's eyes harden.

Neku furrows his eyebrows and glances over his shoulder, searching. It doesn't take long to find what he's looking for.

Joshua stands across the plaza, Neku's headphones in hand and a smug grin on his face.

Neku forgets to breathe. He doesn't realize that he's moving until he's already running, and he skids to a stop mere feet from the boy. Neku doesn't dare break eye contact. Joshua tilts his head.

"Miss me, Neku?"

Neku is going to punch him.

Joshua moves first.

Holding the headphones in both hands, Joshua lowers them around the back of Neku's head and tugs him forward by the neck. The movement is sudden and unexpected, and Neku makes a noise of surprise. That noise is muffled by Josh's lips, which Neku is shocked to find are against his own.

Joshua is kissing him. _Joshua_ is _kissing_ him. A surge of energy passes through Neku, and he feverishly locks his arms around Josh's neck and pulls him close. He pushes back against Joshua's lips as hard as he can. He feels Joshua's lips curve slightly in a smile.

Neku knows he has to breathe at some point, though he really doesn't want to stop. But Joshua pulls back, and Neku opens his eyes.

Their pants are the only noise between them. The city moves around them, but Neku can only focus on this moment, this boy, this god. The energy in him goes as quickly as it came.

Joshua smiles then, and it's a different smile than his usual smirk. It's the smile he gave Neku before sacrificing himself, genuine and maybe even affectionate. Neku's heart flutters.

"You dropped something, you know," Joshua says, and he releases the headphones gently. They hang from Neku's neck, and it's such a familiar and comfortable sensation. It feels like home.

"Why?" Neku asks, and it's not a proper question, but Joshua understands anyway.

"They're a part of you, aren't they?" says Joshua. "Even if you don't need to hide anymore. They meant something to you."

Neku presses his face into Josh's shoulder. His face feels a bit warm. Well, very warm.

“Thoughtful of you. What do you get out of it?" Neku asks through Joshua's shirt. He feels Josh's shoulders shake as he laughs.

"A chance to see you squirm, apparently," he says. Neku rolls his eyes. "And I had to return it eventually. I'd be a thief otherwise."

Neku deciphers that as a roundabout way of saying that Joshua wanted an excuse to see him again, to get into his good graces. Which is stupid because Josh _has_ to know how often Neku thought about him. But then, they're both stubborn idiots, and Neku knows that for a fact.

There's a million and one things Neku could say in this moment, and approximately zero are coming to mind. So instead he grips Joshua’s shirt and holds on tight.

He's never, ever letting go.


End file.
